Astratte. Donne e astrazione in Italia 1930-2000

The essay is an introduction to the exhibition Astratte (Villa Olmo, Como 19 March - 29 May 2022) and takes a historical and thematic approach to the evolution of abstract art in Italy, looking at the female universe. In a history of art that for a long time was exclusively addressed to men, the exhibition focuses on some of the protagonists of Italian art, starting with those artists who worked in Como in the abstract avant-garde. The period illustrated is between the 1930s and the 1990s, years in which the investigation of abstract art was declined in groups and trends ranging from geometric abstraction, informal, analytical painting, post-pictorial abstraction and programmed art. The book illustrates the different declinations, modes and lines of research with which non-figurative art has expressed itself and is still expressing itself in painting and sculpture, taking into consideration some major themes: sign, geometry, concept, matter, body, space. Each artist is documented by exemplary works, from different periods in some cases, to illustrate the complexity and variety of this research. The three critical essays address not only the theme of the exhibition but also the relationship with international research and with the art-historical re-evaluation of women's art in the years of feminism.